Flight from the Dark Page 2

  7 = Quarterstaff (Weapons)

  8 = Spear (Weapons)

  9 = 12 Gold Crowns (Belt Pouch)

  0 = Broadsword (Weapons)

  To discover which of the above you find, you must pick a number from the Random Number Table and find the corresponding article on the list. Note this on your Action Chart, under the heading given in brackets, and make a note of any effect it may have on your ENDURANCE points.

  How to Carry Equipment

  Now that you have your equipment, the following list shows you how it is carried. You don't need to make notes but you can refer back to this list in the course of your adventure.

  1 = Sword — carried in the hand.

  2 = Helmet — worn on the head.

  3 = Food — placed in the Backpack.

  4 = Chainmail Waistcoat — worn on the body.

  5 = Mace — carried in the hand.

  6 = Healing Potion — carried in the Backpack.

  7 = Quarterstaff — carried in the hand.

  8 = Spear — carried in the hand.

  9 = Gold Crowns — carried in the Belt Pouch.

  0 = Broadsword — carried in the hand.

  How Much Can You Carry?

  Weapons

  The maximum number of weapons that you may carry is two.

  Backpack Items

  These must be stored in your Backpack. Because space is limited, you may only keep a maximum of eight articles, including Meals, in your Backpack at any one time.

  Special Items

  Special Items are not carried in the Backpack. When you discover a Special Item, you will be told how to carry it.

  Gold Crowns

  These are always carried in the Belt Pouch. It will hold a maximum of fifty crowns.

  Food

  Food is carried in your Backpack. Each Meal counts as one item.

  Any item that may be of use and can be picked up on your adventure and entered on your Action Chart is given capital letters in the text. Unless you are told it is a Special Item, carry it in your Backpack.

  How to Use Your Equipment

  Weapons

  Weapons aid you in combat. If you have the Kai Discipline of Weaponskill and the correct weapon, it adds 2 points to your COMBAT SKILL. If you enter a combat with no weapons, deduct 4 points from your COMBAT SKILL and fight with your bare hands. If you find a weapon during the adventure, you may pick it up and use it. (Remember you can only carry two Weapons at once.) You may only use one Weapon at a time in combat.

  Backpack Items

  During your travels you will discover various useful items which you may wish to keep. (Remember you can only carry eight items in your Backpack at once.) You may exchange or discard them at any point when you are not involved in combat.

  Special Items

  Each Special Item has a particular purpose or effect. You may be told this when the item is discovered, or it may be revealed to you as the adventure progresses.

  Gold Crowns

  The local currency is the Crown, which is a small gold coin. Gold Crowns can be used on your adventure to pay for transport, food, or even as a bribe! Many of the creatures that you will encounter possess Gold Crowns, or have them hidden in their lairs. Whenever you kill a creature, you may take any Gold Crowns that it has and put them in your Belt Pouch.

  Food

  You will need to eat regularly during your adventure. If you do not have any food when you are instructed to eat a Meal, you will lose 3 ENDURANCE points. If you have chosen the Kai Discipline of Hunting as one of your five skills, you will not need to tick off a Meal when instructed to eat.

  Healing Potion

  This can restore 4 ENDURANCE points to your total when swallowed after combat. There is only enough for one dose. If you discover any other potions during the adventure, you will be told then of their effect. All Healing Potions are Backpack Items.

  Rules for Combat

  There will be occasions on your adventure when you have to fight an enemy. The enemy's COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE points are given in the text. Lone Wolf's aim in the combat is to kill the enemy by reducing his ENDURANCE points to zero while losing as few ENDURANCE points as possible himself.

  At the start of a combat, enter Lone Wolf's and the enemy's ENDURANCE points in the appropriate boxes on the Combat Record section of your Action Chart.

  The sequence for combat is as follows.

  Add any extra points gained through your Kai Disciplines to your current COMBAT SKILL total.

  Subtract the COMBAT SKILL of your enemy from this total. The result is your Combat Ratio. Enter it on the Action Chart.

  Example

  Lone Wolf (COMBAT SKILL 15) is ambushed by a Winged Devil (COMBAT SKILL 20). He is not given the opportunity to evade combat, but must stand and fight as the creature swoops down on him. Lone Wolf has the Kai Discipline of Mindblast, so he adds 2 points to his COMBAT SKILL, giving a total COMBAT SKILL of 17.

  He subtracts the Winged Devil's COMBAT SKILL from his own, giving a Combat Ratio of −3 (17 − 20 = −3). −3 is noted on the Action Chart as the Combat Ratio.

  When you have your Combat Ratio, pick a number from the Random Number Table.

  Turn to the Combat Results Table. Along the top of the chart are shown the Combat Ratio numbers. Find the number that is the same as your Combat Ratio and cross-reference it with the random number that you have picked (the random numbers appear on the side of the chart). You now have the number of ENDURANCE points lost by both Lone Wolf and his enemy in this round of combat. (E represents points lost by the enemy; LW represents points lost by Lone Wolf.)

  Example

  The Combat Ratio between Lone Wolf and Winged Devil has been established as -3. If the number taken from the Random Number Table is a 6, then the result of the first round of combat is:

  Lone Wolf loses 3 ENDURANCE points

  Winged Devil loses 6 ENDURANCE points

  On the Action Chart, mark the changes in ENDURANCE points to the participants in the combat.

  Unless otherwise instructed, or unless you have an option to evade, the next round of combat now starts.

  Repeat the sequence from Stage 3.

  This process of combat continues until the ENDURANCE points of either the enemy or Lone Wolf are reduced to zero or below, at which point that combatant is declared dead. If Lone Wolf is dead, the adventure is over. If the enemy is dead, Lone Wolf proceeds but with his ENDURANCE points possibly reduced.

  A summary of Combat Rules appears in the back of this book.

  Evasion of Combat

  During your adventure you may be given the chance to evade combat. If you have already engaged in a round of combat and decide to evade, calculate the combat for that round in the usual manner. All points lost by the enemy as a result of that round are ignored, and you make your escape. Only Lone Wolf may lose ENDURANCE points during that round, but then that is the risk of running away! You may only evade if the text of the particular section allows you to do so.

  Levels of Kai Training

  The following table is a guide to the ranks and titles that are bestowed upon Kai Lords at each stage of their training. As you successfully complete each adventure in the Lone Wolf series, you will gain an additional Kai Discipline and gradually progress towards mastery of the ten basic Kai Disciplines.

  Novice

  Intuite

  Doan

  Acolyte

  Initiate — You begin the Lone Wolf adventures with this level of Kai training

  Aspirant

  Guardian

  Warmarn or Journeyman

  Savant

  Master

  Beyond the ten basic skills of the Kai Master await the secrets of the higher Kai Disciplines or ‘Magnakai’. By acquiring the wisdom of the Magnakai, a Kai Lord can progress towards the ultimate achievement and become a Kai Grand Master.

  Kai Wisdom

  Your mission will be one of great danger, for the Darklords and their servants are a cruel and fierce en
emy who give and expect no mercy. Use the map to help you steer a correct course for the capital. Make notes as you progress through the story, for they will be of great help in future adventures.

  Many things that you find will aid you during the adventure. Some Special Items will be of use in future Lone Wolf adventures and others may be red herrings of no real use at all, so be selective in what you decide to keep.

  There are many routes to the King, but only one involves a minimum of danger. With a wise choice of Kai Disciplines and a great deal of courage, any player should be able to complete the mission, no matter how weak their initial COMBAT SKILL or ENDURANCE points score.

  The honour and memory of the Kai Lords will go with you on your perilous journey.

  Good luck!

  1

  You must make haste for you sense it is not safe to linger by the smoking remains of the ruined monastery. The black-winged beasts could return at any moment. You must set out for the Sommlending capital of Holmgard and tell the King the terrible news of the massacre: that the whole élite of Kai warriors, save yourself, have been slaughtered. Without the Kai Lords to lead her armies, Sommerlund will be at the mercy of their ancient enemy, the Darklords.

  Fighting back tears, you bid farewell to your dead kinsmen. Silently, you promise that their deaths will be avenged. You turn away from the ruins and carefully descend the steep track.

  At the foot of the hill, the path splits into two directions, both leading into a large wood.

  If you wish to use your Kai Discipline of Sixth Sense, turn to 141.

  If you wish to take the right path into the wood, turn to 85.

  If you wish to follow the left track, turn to 275.

  2

  As you dash through the thickening trees, the shouts of the Giaks begin to fade behind you. You have nearly outdistanced them completely, when you crash headlong into a tangle of low branches.

  Pick a number from the Random Number Table.

  If you have picked a number 0–4, turn to 343.

  If you have picked a number 5–9, turn to 276.

  3

  Staying close to the officer, you follow him through an arched portal and up a short flight of stairs to a long hall. Soldiers run back and forth bearing orders on ornate scrolls to officers stationed around the city wall.

  A haggard and scar-faced man dressed in the white and purple robes of the King's court approaches you and bids you follow him to the citadel.

  If you wish to follow this man, turn to 196.

  If you wish to decline his offer and return to the crowded streets, turn to 144.

  4

  It is a small one-man canoe in very poor condition. The wood has split and warped, and the craft appears to be leaking in several places. You quickly patch up the worst of the holes with some clay and bail out the water. This seems to stop the leaking for the moment. Stowing your equipment at the bow, you set off downstream, using a piece of driftwood as a paddle.

  After a short while, you hear the sound of horses galloping towards you along the left bank.

  If you wish to use the Kai Discipline of Sixth Sense, turn to 218.

  If you wish to hide in the bottom of the canoe, turn to 75.

  If you wish to try to attract their attention, turn to 175.

  5

  After about an hour of walking, the track slowly bears round to the east. You reach a shallow ford where a fast-flowing brook runs on a steep rocky course towards the south. Just beyond the ford is a junction where the track meets a wider path running north to south. Realizing that the north path will take you away from the capital, you turn right at the junction and head south.

  Turn to 111.

  6

  In the distance you can hear the sound of horses galloping nearer. You crouch behind a tree and wait as the riders come closer. They are the cavalry of the King's Guard wearing the white uniforms of His Majesty's army.

  If you wish to call them, turn to 183.

  If you wish to let them pass and then continue on your way through the forest, turn to 200.

  7

  For what seems an eternity, the rush of the crowd carries you along like a leaf on a fast-flowing stream. You desperately fight to stay on your feet, but you feel weak and dizzy from your ordeal, and your legs are as heavy as lead. Suddenly, you catch a glimpse of a long, narrow stone stairway that leads up to the roof of an inn.

  Gathering the last reserves of your strength, you dive for the stairs and climb slowly up to the top. From here you can see the magnificent view of the rooftops and spires of Holmgard, with the high stone walls of the citadel gleaming in the sun.

  Illustration I—From here you can see the magnificent view of the rooftops and spires of Holmgard.

  The houses and buildings of the capital are built very close to each other, and it is possible to jump from one roof to the next. In fact many of the citizens of Holmgard used to use the ‘Roofways’ (as they are known) when the heavy autumn rains made the unpaved parts of the streets too muddy for walking. But after many accidents, a royal decree forbade their use.

  After careful thought, you decide to use the ‘Roofways’, as they are your only chance of reaching the King. You have hopped, skipped, and jumped across several streets and you are only one street away from the citadel when you come to the end of a row of rooftops.

  The jump to the next row is much further than anything you have tried before, and your stomach begins to feel as if it were full of butterflies. Determined to reach the citadel, you turn and take a long run-up to the jump. With blood pounding in your ears, you sprint to the edge of the roof and leap into space, your eyes fixed on the opposite rooftop.

  Pick a number from the Random Number Table.

  If you have picked a number that is 0–2, turn to 108.

  If the number is 3–9, turn to 25.

  8

  Your Kai Sixth Sense warns there is a fierce battle raging in the south. Your common sense tells you that the south is also the quickest route to the capital.

  Turn to 70 and choose your route.

  9

  You cannot move: you are being held rigid by some powerful force. Your eyes are drawn towards the mouth of the skeleton. From deep in the earth you hear a low humming, like the sound of millions of angry bees. A dull red glow appears in the empty eye sockets of the dead King and the humming increases until your ears are filled with the deafening roar. You are in the presence of an ancient evil, far older and stronger than the Darklords themselves.

  If you possess a Vordak Gem, turn to 236.

  If you do not, turn to 292.

  10

  You are sweating and your legs ache. In the middle distance you can see a group of cottages.

  If you wish to enter a cottage and rest for a while, turn to 115.

  If you wish to press on, turn to 83.

  11

  You quickly dodge into the doorway of a stable and hide your surgeon's cloak in the straw, for it would be better to be seen as a Kai Lord than as a charlatan.

  Without wasting a second, you set off towards the Great Hall on the other side of the courtyard.

  Turn to 139.

  12

  The bodyguard looks at you with great suspicion and then slams the door shut. You can hear the sound of voices inside the caravan. Suddenly the door swings open and the face of a wealthy merchant appears.

  He demands 10 Gold Crowns as payment for the ride.

  If you have 10 Gold Crowns and wish to pay him, turn to 262.

  If you do not have enough Gold Crowns or do not wish to pay him, turn to 247.

  13

  The path soon ends at a large clearing. In the centre of the clearing is a tree much taller and wider than any others you have seen in the forest.

  Looking up through the massive branches you can see a large treehouse some twenty-five to thirty feet above the ground. There is no ladder, but the gnarled bark of the tree offers many footholds.

  If you wish to climb the tree an
d search the treehouse, turn to 307.

  If you would rather press on, turn to 213.

  14

  You reach the top of a small wooded hill on which several large boulders form a rough circle. Suddenly you hear a loud growl from behind a rock to your left.

  If you wish to draw your weapon and prepare to fight, turn to 43.

  If you would rather take evasive action by running as fast as you can over the hill, turn to 106.

  15

  You pass through a long, dark tunnel of overhanging branches that eventually opens out into a large clearing. On a stone plinth in the centre of the clearing is a Sword, sheathed in a black leather scabbard. A handwritten note has been tied to the hilt, but it is in a language which is foreign to you.

  You may take the Sword if you wish, and note it on your Action Chart.

  There are three exits from the clearing.